As children we had several chores but I remembers all work was work and so there was really no chore which was the worst. I does recall how picking tobacco was less than desirable. Picking tobacco was awful because your hands would get so sticky you couldn’t even get your own fist undone. The sap from the tobacco was like glue.
During World War II all young boys went into the service and started smoking. The first year father had a tobacco allotment with no government support. We planted and harvested 12.5 acres which is one thousands hours of labor. The government put a supply price on the tobacco the next year and received five hundred dollar profit off of the tobacco produced. Tobacco was a big portion of our family income. We would dry it in the barn across boards and had to make hot beds. We would go through the forest with a team of horses and make a brush pile. The brush pile would be burned to make heat in order to kill the seeds in early spring. After the brush pile was made and burned off, one tablespoon of seeds were put into a gallon of ashes. This would be mixed up and spread smoothly. We would take the gallon of ashes and line with poles covered in cheesecloth to prevent frost and birds from affecting the tobacco supply.
Back then we and the government had no idea that tobacco was unhealthy. I think the military put cigarettes in the troops “necessary packs”. Does anyone know for sure if they did? I think I remember seeing one in the Ft. Leonard Wood Museum and there were cigarettes and all kinds of interesting things in those packs.
Thank you Mahlon for a very important part of our life. I want to elaborate on what Mahlon said about the hot beds. This was the beginning of our tobacco year. It started like Mahlon said, with putting brush on a nine piece of land, about10 feet by 25 feet. Just guessing at the size. Then burning what ever was piled on this nice patch of soil. This was done for the purpose of killing unwanted seeds in this small patch where the tobacco are going to be sowed. A tobacco seed is so small that they mixed it with the ashes to spread it on the hot bed. They did everything they could to keep weeds out of this tobacco hot bed. When these plants were about 3 inches high, they were planted in the tobacco fields. We were only to plant a certain amount. I don’t think we ever planted more then 1 acre at first.
I apologize for all my mistakes. That pink person with no name was me. I found out this morning that I can allow others to add or view my start of my family on ancestry.com. If you wish you can add your family on where your family begins let me. Know if you are interested. If you have info on the family that you think should be saved , go ahead and put it on there. It is yours too.
Mahlon, are you sure you wrote this story? It doesn’t sound like you. ha ha .